Starbucks Charges Into Wireless Charging

A smartphone equipped with a ring-shaped charging adapter on a charging station.

Powermat

What are often called chicken-and-egg problems frequently slow the deployment of new technology. Wireless charging of mobile devices has been a case in point, but Starbucks could be a force for change.

The big coffee chain, working with Duracell Powermat, on Thursday is announcing plans for a nationwide rollout of the technology. Charging services will be incorporated on the surface of tables and counters to allow customers to plop down compatible devices and fill up their batteries, for free, without any wires.

Its move could address this particular chicken-and-egg problem: people aren’t inclined to install charging surfaces unless there are smartphones that can use the technology. And phone makers aren’t eager to build wireless-charging capability in their products unless charging stations are widely available.

The situation is complicated by the fact that companies are proposing competing charging technologies, so hardware makers that move too early could bet on one that never takes off.

But Starbucks is nevertheless charging ahead. “We are anticipating our customers are going to come to want this in our stores much like they did with Wi-Fi,” says Adam Brotman, who holds the title of chief digital officer at Starbucks.

Powermat, a company founded in 2006 by the Israeli entrepreneur Ran Poliakine, has been among many companies pursuing alternatives to wires for charging cellphones and other devices. The company uses a technology called inductive charging, which can pass electricity between objects in close proximity.

The company, working since 2011 in a partnership with Procter & Gamble 's battery unit Duracell, has been offering products that customers can use now, including various sleeves and adapters to enable smartphones to be used with its charging mats.

Meanwhile, the company has also been working with others to help develop a multi-company charging standard, so consumers can get compatible handsets and accessories from competing vendors. An associated industry group–called the Power Matters Alliance, or PMA–has members that include AT&T, Sony, Samsung Electronics, Microsoft, Qualcomm and Toshiba.

Some phones now on the market incorporate PMA-compatible components or can work with special battery covers or other accessories that use the technology.

The other factor that has been missing, Poliakine says, is a big player to step up and put the technology in places that consumers congregate. Starbucks could be that catalyst, he says, similar to the way the retailer’s embrace of Wi-Fi in the past decade helped make wireless Internet access more ubiquitous.

“It’s a day that could be remembered as the day when people started to charge and get power in a totally new way,” Poliakine says.

Starbucks has been testing the Powermat technology in some stores in the San Francisco and Boston areas, Brotman says. To kick off the rollout, the company will first try to fully build out Bay Area locations before moving it to both Starbucks outlets and its Teavana stores, with most installations likely in 2015 and beyond, he says.

Powermat will supply charging spots and backend technology that helps identify various mobile devices and their power requirements. People can buy charging adapters for their devices at AT&T stores and other outlets, the company said.

Financial terms of the deal aren’t being disclosed. But Brotman estimates the company has about 7,500 company-operated stores, each of which could have a dozen or so charging spots.

Brotman admits the standards battle over wireless charging has not ended, but he feels confident in the PMA technology Powermat is offering. “We feel like we found what we believe is the winning standard,” he says.